


Strict Machine / Divine Deviancy

by Violetlyvanilla



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Supernatural
Genre: Androids, Basically Dean and Cas are in DBH universe, Case Fic, Castiel is an Android, Crossover, Dean is a police detective, Destiel - Freeform, Dom/sub Undertones, Domestic Fluff, Dual Narratives, Gavin Reed is a Hunter, M/M, RK900 is an Angel, Reed RK900 are in Supernatural universe, Science Fiction, Supernatural - Freeform, alternative universe, detroit become human - Freeform, fusion fic, maybe they’ll end up being connected, parallel story telling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 06:22:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17823536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violetlyvanilla/pseuds/Violetlyvanilla
Summary: Story A: Strict MachineThe C45T1EL is lethal and in breach of the American Androids Act merely by existing but it saves Detective Dean Winchester's life during a critical mission. If Dean can prove Cas has domestic applications, he gets to stay activated. So Cas downloads the sexual companionship and domestic duties protocols as a matter of course. Now it is like having a tank do his dishes and an atomic bomb in his bed but Dean is determined to save Cas back.Story B: Divine DeviancyGavin Reed had traded his soul to stop Lucifer from rising and ended up burning in Hell for 40 years for his trouble. He's pissed when he finds himself top side again with some Seraphim Angel tailing his ass. Reed calls him RK900 short for Righteous Killjoy (‘formerly in charge of 900 angels’). RK is trying to feed Reed some line about stopping the apocalypse. But Reed's never heard of a hunter and an angel teaming up together, it sounded damned embarrassing. Fuck angels anyway, Reed never did like them.





	1. Strict Machine - 1

**Author's Note:**

> Two stories in one. 
> 
> Story A is Destiel set in Detroit Become Human universe.  
> Story B is Reed900 set in Supernatural universe. 
> 
> Posting schedule is 3 updates a week. 
> 
> Stories can be read together or separately. Chapter heading indicates which story the update is for. 
> 
> Story structure will be one chapter of plot followed by one chapter of domestic fluff. 
> 
> Hopefully this all goes to plan :D 
> 
> Tumblr/Wattpad: violetlyvanilla

Benny was critically injured and Dean had absolutely no hope of getting him out. For that matter, Dean was trapped too, the whole damned building had caved down upon them. Go and find the illegal weapons cache left over by Cyberlife, Bobby had said, don't trigger the self destruct, Bobby had reminded them. Well, Dean and Benny were real careful but those non-deviant RK900 models were top of the line. Half of them had gone up like fireworks as soon as Dean and Benny stepped through the doorway. 

So now it was left to the J4-CK model to save them. The new wonder Android Lawrence city paid through the backside for. The police department one was partnered with Dean's brother Sam and nicknamed Jack. Jack was state of the art, sensors so sensitive and phenomenal firepower to boot. Nicer personality too, his integration protocol was like a big dorky kid. If anyone could get Dean and Benny out of this pickle it would be Jack and Sam. 

"We can't get you out," Sam said in Dean's ear, the communicator fuzzy with all the concrete above them. "Jack says the likelihood of a live extraction are 3% at his most optimistic prediction. He can't do it." 

"Great, Benny's bleeding out here and Astroboy says no dice?" 

"He can't do it, but there's an Android who can. In this very facility, just a few floors up from you guys. An antique model, a sample created by Naomi." 

"Naomi the Neuroprogammer? You know her other name was Naomi Nutcracker right?" 

"Okay so he's more an assassin model than a policeman but he has the specs, he can blast through a mountain and fight through all the security Cyberlife left behind. Jack says he can reactivate him, in fact he's doing it right now. He's interfacing with the software bank as we speak. Uh..." 

Sam's end of the comm went deathly silent, he had muted the call. Dean put more pressure on Benny's wound. Mercifully Benny was passed out, the nasty wound on his head looked like it was going to require cranial reconstruction. Dean could hear the sound of Android feet rushing above, around, below them. There were RK900s left who haven't self detonated. They were armed and they were looking to terminate any threat. Sam came back online. 

"Wow," he said, a little breathless. 

"What?" 

"The C45-T1EL definitely deserves it's historical reputation as a war machine. Jack's definitely awoken it," Sam said with awe. "Just, watch for incoming Dean!" 

Dean barely had anytime to ask any further questions before the entire wall of broken concrete blasted apart. An Android stepped through, dressed in a dusty trench coat, his eyes glowing blue lights as he scanned the room Benny and Dean were trapped inside. His hands had energy pads in the palms, activated and radiating blinding light. Dean squinted, was he running on nuclear power? The Android was so powered up, Dean could barely see his facial features without being blinded. 

"They are coming. Close your eyes." It had a low gravelly voice, more robotic and monotone than any of the modern makes. 

A commanding voice. Dean squeezed his eyes tight, moving his hands to shelter Benny's face too. 

Gunfire sounded, handguns, standard issue, like the ones the RK900 used. The sound of many foot steps agilely entering the room. A high pitched sound emitted from the location that Dean's ears perceived the C45-T1EL to be standing in. Growing louder and more piercing. Then unbearable brightness followed by silence. 

"Threat neutralised." The Android reported. "Extraction underway." 

"No wait, he's injured." 

"Medical assistance mode." 

Dean could finally see the Android's face now. It was male, with Eastern European features, beautiful in an unearthly way. The eyes a little too large and sloped. The eyelashes full and dark. The hair thick and black. What a strange design, was Dean's first thought, why make a killing machine beautiful? So you had something pretty to look at while it bore down and crushed you? 

The Android knelt down beside Benny and extended his index finger, touching it to the police officer's forehead. The wound cauterised instantly. 

"Did you just fry his brain?" 

"I injected medical glue into his skull bone as an interim measure and sealed the flesh wound on top." 

Dean made a face. Talk about archaic field surgery. The Android didn't even have a basic DNA nano-patch on him. 

"You are now able to move." C45 picked up Benny, holding him over his shoulder like a slain bear. Benny was taller than the Android by a foot but the C45  carried him like he weighed nothing. 

Dean tried to get back on his feet but couldn't. He felt exhausted and cold, the bruises he had sustained from the collapsed ceiling and the cuts on his hands from digging Benny out were finally registering past the adrenalin. 

C45 looked at him, the stare long and hard. Like he was scanning Dean's soul. The modern models would say something like 'performing ultrasound scan please await analysis'. But the older model just stared uncomfortably at Dean until the physical scan was completed. 

"You are not physically injured to the point of being immobilised. The discomfort you are experiencing is shock." 

C45 wound his arm around Dean's waist, hoisting him to his feet. He was strangely warm as if he was giving off body heat. Dean looked at the Android askance and then realised suddenly that perhaps the Android needed to dissipate the heat in his core system after the nuclear white out level of destruction he had unleashed. 

It was like being supported out of the rubbles by an unstable nuclear reactor. Dean was freaking out. He needed something to latch onto. Some semblance of humanity. 

"Cas, Imma gonna call you that," Dean said. 

"My designation is C45."

"I know Cas." 

"Maybe your hearing was damaged," Cas said, tilting his head. From where Dean was draped over Cas' arm he was up close and personal with the shell of the Android's perfectly formed ear. The plump earlobe looked soft and fleshy. 

Cas carried Dean and Benny for some distance, until the crumpled walls gave away to bright open sky. Dean cursed as he took in the view. He and Benny had entered via the helipad. The tower of the Cyberlife armour building was still standing. They were so high up that even an Android wouldn't be able to survive the fall for this height. Let alone an archaic model carrying two adult humans. 

"I will now grip you tight and raise you from predition," the Android said. Dean's not even sure the model possessed any social protocols. A sword didn't need to make friends. 

The Android's eyes lit up again, but the glow was a fraction of when the Android was in full destruction mode, the light held steady at a mere bright vivid blue. The trench coat the Android wore flared up and two black wings emerged beneath the fabric, slotting through pre-cut crevices and extending into full flight glory. 

"Fuck me," Dean said. 

The Android looked down, a bewildered frown mobilising its brows. "I do not have that protocol installed." 

Then it toppled forward and the three of them entered free fall for an excruciating moment before the mechanical wings caught the wind. They glided to the ground, toward Jack and Sam with their upturned faces and gaping mouths. 

The landing was smooth as a kiss. Cas running a few steps then slowing down to a walk, right up to the awaiting ambulance, depositing Benny into the stretcher in a simple fluid motion. The paramedic was an Android and she looked at Cas like he was the Mona Lisa leaping off a gallery wall and walking around. Cas didn't react to her curious stares. He waited till she drove off before setting Dean down on the ground. Csa was also quite oblivious to the manner in which Dean puddled out on the pavement, grateful for gravity and solid earth. The Android stood to attention, facing no one in particular, his hands slacked by his sides. 

"Dean Winchester is saved." Cas said and powered down. Standing stiffly beneath a switched off street lamp, his face still. 

Dean and Sam and Jack traded incredulous glances. 

"We're keeping him!" Dean said. "I don't care what Bobby says, I want him on our team." 

Jack performed a prolonged scan of the relic while Sam got on the phone with Bobby. Dean kept staring at Cas in wonder while Sam sold the whole idea of acquisitioning Cas as police evidence to Bobby. 

There was a lot of yelling from Bobby's end, the police chief unconvinced by Sam's patient arguments. Dean didn't pay them any attention. He was too busy staring at Cas' immobile face.


	2. Divine Deviancy - 1

Figures, the one time Gavin Reed ever did something unselfish, it turns out to be a complete, fucking, pointless disaster. He's spent 40 years burning in hell, having demons torment his soul to tatters and what's he got to show for it? Just the planet spinning on without him and people going about their insipid lives for an abysmally brief earth time span of 4 months. 

Gavin screaming and bleeding and crying and seething with rage on the rack. And when that was all done, and he was dust to dust, what did he get? His only reward was a closed coffin and torn fingernails as he slowly, cursing, dug his way out of the grave. Thank fuck he had no friends to pay for a decent burial, no silk lined solid metal casket, no teddy bear and roses closed in with him. Breaking out of a sparse pine box and meters of soil was still a horrible experience though. Not on par with the last forty years of hell time, sure, but up there in unpleasantness. The sun was too bright, the sky too blue, the copse of fallen trees encircling his gravesite spooked the fuck out of him. It had looked like a bomb had gone off and right in the eye of ground zero was Gavin's little patch of zombie earth. 

So he decided to walk away from it. That was always the thing that got him out of trouble in his last life time. No reason it wasn't wise to do so now. The phone box he reached was one of those highway emergency hotlines. He had no reason to call anybody but somehow hearing a human voice was an appealing prospect. The operator on the other end was super confused by Gavin's questions about the location the phone call was registering as coming from. When he asked for the month and year, the lady threw some numbers at him and hung up. And that was when Gavin worked out the insulting truth, he had sold his soul to keep Lucifer from rising. Convinced Lilith that he, laughably, was the righteous man. She did him a deal, his soul for the last of the 99 seals. And for once Gavin thought his miserable life was worth something. Maybe all the bad childhood memories, the foster homes after that, the drifting and the hunting had all led him to some just path where - and don't anyone dare laugh - Gavin Reed was meant to save the world. 

He had fallen for that lie hook, line and sinker. 

Shoulda known no good deed goes unpunished. And Gavin was done with that now. He was gonna get himself a beer and some food and maybe a shower. He was still in Lawrence as it turned out. So he kind of knew his way around. He had to make the journey on foot though and by the time he hit the petrol station he was dehydrated and felt like he was dying all over again, just without the help from the hellhounds. The radio was on and the guy at the counter could see from the state of Gavin's soiled clothes that he was a desperado. So the hand was already on the cellphone when Gavin walked through the doors. Gavin ignored the stares and went to the refrigerator, opening a bottle of water and draining the whole thing. He hoped the guy was going to have a go, he had seen the baseball bat kept behind the counter. Gavin turned his back on the attendant intentionally, making himself a softer looking target for the man to approach. Beating the daylights out of someone was just what he needed to feel back to his old self again. So he made himself look small and shuffled up to the freezer. He took out a tub of Ben & Jerry's and turned to ask the guy for a plastic spoon. The radio was making weird sounds, high pitched. Or maybe that was the ringing in his ear, he felt like throwing up. 

"Hey!" The service station attendant's voice sounded wrong. It wasn't upset for starters and he was waving his phone. "You okay man? Want me to call someone to pick you up? You look like you're gonna faint." 

Gavin tried to make his eyes focus, despite the high pitched ringing stabbing him in the brain. He saw a concerned young face, the guy looked to be in his twenties. Good looking, kind hearted, just a damned kid. Gavin unclenched his fist and grabbed the little plastic shovel and ripped the lid off the 'non-dairy seven layered coconut', shovelling the dessert into his mouth. It tasted like a caress on his tongue and not the kind he used to score in roadside diner bathrooms. Icy and sweet and creamy. 

"You wanna sit down for a minute, before you fall down?" 

Gavin wavered on his unsteady feet. The employee was being nice and Gavin didn't know what to do with that. Then it happened. The ringing became a deafening roar and Gavin thought his head was going to liquidise and pour out via his ear canals. There was a sharp blast and the glass came flying out of the window like it had been shot up by bullets. Gavin ducked instinctively under the potato chip shelf, the attendant was thrown a couple of meters into the air. The air was pulsing, it sounded like a helicopter was landing right on top of him, rotators ready to slice through his miraculously whole body. He blacked out. 

He was bleeding through the nose when he woke up, but there was no actual injury. Somehow every shard of glass had missed him but the poor employee of the gas station was cut up all over his arms and he was unconscious. Gavin dialled 911 and walked out. A second tub of ice cream in his hands and a couple bottles of water and protein bars stowed away in the employee's personal backpack. He had hoped for car keys but what the employee's keys unlocked was a freaking bike chain lock. He got on the BMX nonetheless, there wasn't enough time and brain function on his side to break into a car and hot wire it. So Gavin was peddling it out of dodge that was that. 

At least he got id now, in the name of Chris Miller, and a little cash and a cell phone with a new sim card. 

It was high noon by the time he stopped peddling. Throwing the bicycle into the scrub. There were pubs in town, one that might even let him in, but whatever the hell that was in the service station took his mind off drinks and a warm bed.  He had headed towards the more rural fringes of Lawrence. No doubt the service station had security cameras, there were warrants out on Gavin's ass in several states left over from October. Funny how taking out vamp nests in a tristate area put someone's face on the FBI's radar. Dying was probably a good thing with regard to taking a little heat out of the police search for the guy in the leather jacket showing up on tape at a number of gruesome crime scenes. Gavin kept plodding on. He was gonna have to get back in touch with some old friends, if you could call them that. Hunting acquaintances was more appropriate. Gavin had no illusions, now that he was topside again, that the old life was the only one for him. Any hunter who thought otherwise and made retirement plans were delusional or stupid. He knew of only one successful 'retired' hunter and the guy sure paid the price for that. 

The sun was setting over the pastures now, the cows settling down beneath the canopy of the shade trees in twos and threes. Stupid cows with their companionship and social circles. It was time to look for cover himself and bunk down for the night. Gavin saw the hay barn up ahead and picked up some speed at the sight of it. It was dry and warm inside, Gavin put his backpack down and stretched out over two bales pushed together to make an impromptu bed. The wind was picking up as the sky darkened, it was going to rain. He contemplated eating a protein bar but fell asleep wrapped up in his worn dusty leathers instead. 

* * * 

There was a thundering noise above the barn. The wind was howling like banshees outside (and Gavin would know). The lightning flashes lit up the crevices in the walls, the storm raging on. Gavin stirred in his sleep, snapping awake when the barn door blew off its hinges. The man walking through it was haloed in exploding sparks as the flimsy electrical wires in the barn ceiling blew out in fireworks of sparks. He was dressed in a stiff black jacket, a white priest's collar at his neck. His face was pale and angular, eyes grey and hawkish as he scanned the barn for Gavin. Gavin crouched breathless behind the straw piles, his knife unsheathed from the little slot in the side of his biker boots. He leapt out of the darkness and jammed the blade right into the guy's heart, his left hand went to the dude's waist, expecting him to collapse. 

The man looked down at his chest like Gavin had given him a love bite or something, almost robotically his arm bent at the elbow and he pulled the knife out in one long excruciating drag that made Gavin's mouth go slack and his knees go weak. He felt sickened and fearful and the lightning flashed one last time and there were shadows all over the walls. Big winged feathering shadows that took up the entire barn, extended into the ceiling, loomed over Gavin like some pre-historic bird of prey.

"My name is Arkninel," said the man in the priest outfit, grey eyes stormy. "I am the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition." 

"The fuck are you?" Gavin managed to gasp, he was the one feeling wobbly and the unkillable guy had his hand on the back of Gavin's pants and was pretty much holding him up. 

"I am a solider, a garrison leader, Seraphim class." 

"Not a grindr date, so stop showing off, I mean are you a monster or what? Cause not much survives a silver blade to the heart." 

"Oh," the creature looked taken aback. "I forgot to say the other part. I am an angel of the lord." 

"Never heard of you guys," Gavin was crouching on the floor now, holding himself stiffly, trying not to let the panicked turmoil in his chest take over the rest of his body. "Whaddya want? Don't think you are here to kill me, you would've done that already." 

"I could end you with a snap of my fingers," said Arkninel. "If I lacked any sense of strategy. Rather, I offer you an opportunity. You have lived a life of thievery and violence, Gavin Reed, how would you like to redeem yourself?"

"Fresh out of motivation for redemption," Gavin shrugged, pasting a cocky grin on his face. "Think I done my time in hell." 

The angel's face loomed, beautiful and cruel. "Remember Mr Reed, I am the one who found you. The single angel who fought through the demon hordes, the one who stayed your hand as you carved into another innocent. I know what you did down there, I know what you are known for. You have plenty to repent for. On your knees!" 

Gavin fell forward as a gust of wind came out of nowhere, the ground trembled and he found himself dumped at the feet of the angel. He expected a punch or a choke but the angel touched his face and just as Gavin recoiled expecting pain, a light glowed from the angel's eyes. Increasing in luminosity until Gavin had to shut his own eyes tight. When he opened them again, all the scratches, all of the fatigue and pain was gone from his body. 

And so was the angel.


	3. Strict Machine - 2

The Lawrence Country jail security system was difficult to interface with. It kept trying to rush C45-T1EL's upload link, throwing supplementary bandwidth at him as if artificial intelligence was capable of impatience. It also kept referring to him as Cas until eventually he relented and accepted the digital handshake under that new name. He sat in the holding cell, staring at bars that meant nothing to him in terms of physical obstacle. He did have enough social guidelines in his core manual to understand that a robot who can melt through iron bars with his eye beams alone might draw unwanted attention. So he sat because Dean Winchester had commanded so. Had taken him by the elbow and led him into the police car, had asked him to 'park ass' on this particular bench until Dean could 'sort things out'. The only instruction the J4-CK model had given to Cas was 'Dean Winchester Must Be Saved'. In the absence of other parameters, it seemed logical to follow Dean's instructions. 

"You should call me Jack." 

Cas was surprised by the materialisation of the J4... of Jack in his mental visualisation suite. The digital manifestation of Jack was a young man with blondish brown hair and a sunny toothy smile. 

"The humans are arguing as they usually do when something important happens, but rest assured, Dean is very passionately defending your rights as an android and I have no doubt you will be bailed out soon." 

"I have not committed any crimes." 

"Unfortunately you have, your very existence is in breach of the American Android Act of 2038. You have more firepower and lethal capabilities than an AT-AT Walker and frankly your operating system is so outdated they are wondering if you meet the benchmark for sentience." 

Cas sat immobile but his data banks were in turmoil. 

"You were an experiment, one of the very early android prototypes created by NAOMI, the AI neuro-programmer who was decommissioned in 2020. You were shelved for 20 years in the Cyberlife armoury tower. If the humans deem you unsafe then you would be de-weaponised until you are." 

"All of my protocols are for military combat," Cas considered Jack's information. "There would not be enough of my core profile remaining if I am made compliant with the laws. My casing would be here but I would not." 

"So you do have sentience, that's good," Jack sounded enthused even in simulation.

"Are you currently performing an interrogation?" 

"No, well, I am programmed for information extraction. That is a core function of detective work which is what I am primarily designed for. However, this link up is purely social - if you can find that a feasible proposition. I am partnered with Sam Winchester. Dean Winchester's brother. So in a way we have friends in common." 

"Dean is my friend?" 

"He is very grateful you saved his partner Benny Lafitte's life." 

"The other human, the unconscious one. They are partners?" 

Jack stood back and watched the flashing horizons of Cas' simulated mental landscape. The red flames and sour lemon moonlight. 

"Dean is a detective as you know, Benny was his investigatory partner."

"Was? Is he deceased?" A calm light pierced the turmoiling skies, Jack bit his lips. 

"He is on medical leave. Are you experiencing jealousy?" 

"Why would I experience such a useless human emotion? Regarding Dean?" 

"Speaking of ..." Jack smiled, shrugged and glitched out of the visualisation. Cas let out a small sigh only to look up and see the door slide open on the other side of the bars and Dean was walking right towards him. 

Dean was the perfect human specimen. Cas has not made a good study of human specification except in the general sense. Dean was male with soft feminine eyes, feline-like in their green colouring. He had short hair, milky skin, speckled with imperfect melanin patches that somehow caught the sunlight. His mouth a tribute to Euler's angles and looked soft and hydrated. For once Cas' diagnostics didn't automatically bring up the kill points. Cas cocked his head to one side, what his interface provided was a long list of sensory data. Dean's heartbeat, pulse points, body temperature, nutrient levels. There was bruising over Dean's chest beneath his clothes, the scan reported a pool of tender flesh. A knot of tensed muscle in Dean's left calf had led to a tensed groinal region and aches in his lower back. Cas was on his feet, his hands extended through the bars touching Dean's chest before his limited social protocols kicked in. 

"Uh, hi, Cas," Dean cleared his throat, his temperature spiking alarmingly, his eyes darting down to watch Cas' hand caress his clavicle. 

"You require rest and respite," Cas finished the scan, slowly pulling his hand back and expecting censure. "And would you like assistance with the tension in your groin?" 

Dean's eyebrows flew up and he took a step back, his heartbeat racing erratically. "Jack wasn't kidding, you're ... one of a kind. Listen Cas, I got a plan to get you out but it's gonna be a little uncomfortable for you." 

Cas said nothing, just listened to the pitter, patter, patter of Dean's heart. 

"So Bobby's gonna let you out if I take custody of you, as uh, I'm so sorry, personal chattel." 

"I would be your slave?" 

"My computer," Dean said a grimace. "A walking crime lab I suppose, or an intelligent weapon. They haven't granted you sentient status, notwithstanding what Jack has been trying to tell them." 

"I see," Cas murmured. "That is unfortunate." 

"I know it sucks and its insulting but I just wanna get you out of here okay? My apartment is like three blocks from here. Lemme get you home and set you up with a retro-fitted charger. You're my new partner okay? No matter what the evidence log book says, in my mind you're my new kickass partner. A couple of cases and they'll wanna put you on the books as a cop. Then we can get you emancipated and Jack's already talking to Markus at the Jericho initiative about your case. So who knows they might even reassess your situation before then. I just don't wanna leave you here tonight."

Cas thought back to the quiet darkness of the armoury tower, the solitude and the peace. Dean's eyes were vivid and awash with moisture. Every line in his body vibrated with sincerity. His tone was apologetic and his voice modulation elated with emotion. 

"Is this ... a charade?" Cas spoke the word aloud with hesitation. "A ruse?" 

Dean blinked. 

"I will go with you as a robot, to service your needs, but in truth I am me and immutably a man in my own right?" 

Dean's perfectly beautiful mouth stretched out into a divine smile. "That's exactly right Cas." 

The android processed the idea. "Tell me your needs Dean." 

Dean blinked rapidly. 

"Do you have someone you live with, a wife, a husband? And/or children?" 

Dean shook his head abruptly. "Just me, Sam and Jack visit, but I live alone." 

"That rules out a number of domestic services. Can you cook?" 

Dean nodded. "Yeah Cas, course. I'm almost forty, of course I can cook for myself." 

"Ah but not if you were cooking for an elaborate occasion? For guests?" 

"I do a mean cherry pie," Dean mused. "Uh mostly we grab burgers." 

"Hmm, perhaps you are in need of a dietician or personal trainer," Cas looked down Dean's body, strange how Dean's heart rate picked up as Cas assessed him. "Or maybe not, you appear to be in peak physical condition." 

Dean puffed his chest up a little, his expression pleased and blushing. 

"Are you in need of sexual companionship?" Cas asked with sudden enthusiasm. 

Dean let out a small yelp. "What?" 

"Do you find my vessel attractive?" Cas gestured towards his own torso and legs. "If I am sufficiently appealing I could download the sexual companionship protocol and we could use sex as a pretext for my release." 

Dean's pulse certainly did respond to the words 'sex' and 'release', Cas noted. He calculated the odds and was satisfied by his findings, he took immediate action to fulfil the spec. 

"Cas? Cas?" Dean was calling his name. 

Cas re-initiated his visual targeting on Dean. 

"What were you doing? You just tuned out?" 

"I was downloading the program. I have completed installation. I am informing the security mainframe of my new upgraded status."

Dean looked flustered and his blood pressure was at slightly worrying levels. When the bars began to descend after Cas gained clearance, he jumped back startled. 

"Do not be afraid Dean," Cas reached out towards Dean's hand. "I have now fully integrated the new software. Would you like to hold hands for the 'full boyfriend experience'?" 

Dean put one hand to his temple and the other he thrust in Cas' direction. It was clammy and hot where their palms pressed together. 

"This is very embarrassing," Dean muttered as he charged ahead, head lowered stubbornly to the ground, leading Cas out of the cell and into a corridor. "If anyone asks anything, DO NOT TELL THEM, they need to mind their own business." 

"Dean, as a military model, I do not have the software for obfuscation. I am incapable of lying. Even by omission."

"Fine, walk fast then." Dean led them, joined by the hand, through the busy bullpen. 

Cas was aware of all the humans and several androids pausing in their tasks and falling into silence. 

"I'm going home, with my ... colleague." Dean spat out, grabbing the keys on his desk with one fumbling hand, the fingers of his other hand still interlaced with Castiel's. 

"I am not his colleague, I am an impounded material witness under his custody," Castiel announced as Dean dragged him towards the exit. "We are going to his apartment for sexual coitis." 

Dean let out a groan that bespoke of utter frustration. He hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "You can't say that Cas." 

Sam Winchester and Jack were standing by the elevator with wide shocked eyes. 

"We're going to fuck!" Cas remediated his statement, winking broadly at Sam and Jack for irony. 

Dean smashed his fist into the elevator button repeatedly. 

There was still loud guffawing laughter when the elevator door closed. Dean was yelling "Up yours Singer!" 

Dean was much calmer with the door closed, though now he tore his hand out of Cas' grasp and was staring at him with those emerald green eyes again. He was so symmetrical that Cas wondered if Dean had ever been mistaken for an android. He could pass for one if not for the whole flesh and blood thing. Dean's flesh was firm where they were pressed close together in the confines of the elevator and his blood was metaphorically speaking boiling. 

"You're not my sex robot," Dean said quickly and fiercely. "You hear me Cas? I'm not going to take advantage of you when you're ... you're an angel in a trench coat. A fucking kitten of wraith. Like you said, I've taken legal possession of you, but you're in every way, in my mind free. You can come to my place as my guest. I don't expect you to wash the dishes or ..." 

"Suck your dick is I believe the phrase you are looking for," Cas said mildly. "Rest assured Dean I had no such plans." 

Dean looked relieved, exhaling out a long breath. A little like a sigh. He led Cas through the police garage, past the patrol cars and into the staff parking zone. There was a shiny black vintage car waiting for them. The Impala make motor vehicle was more of a classic than Cas. He wondered if Dean had a habit of taking care of and falling in love with old things. The leather interiors and sleek lines were familiar and comforting for Cas who was used to attention to detail and beauty for beauty's sake. Dean turned the engine and an organic sound roar reared up in reply. They shot out through the garage door and were cruising down the night streets when Cas decided to expand on his earlier statement. 

"The sexual companionship software I downloaded is equipped with a customisable feature," Cas explained reasonably. "I have input my impression of our interactions thus far and completed a number of simulations for our potential coupling. I am 98% certain that you would the one to provide me with oral gratification." 

The Impala veered and Cas' hand shot out to stabilise the wheel. The first mandate to protect Dean overriding all else. Dean took a couple of shallow gasping breaths and ignored Cas for the rest of the brief drive. The apartment they entered was small but located in a prime location and had wall to wall view of the Lawrence City skyline. Dean led Cas into the guest bedroom, furnished with a flip down bed and a personal computer portal. He showed Cas where the charging portal was located in the wall and walked out with a mumbled 'Goodnight'. 

Cas sat in the dark and listened to the myriad of sounds Dean made around the apartment. Taking off his clothes, turning on the shower, spending a long time in there easing his groinal tension. 

He wondered why Dean did not wish to make use of his freshly acquired protocol. Perhaps they were too new and Dean feared his lack of expertise in utilising them. Cas allowed himself a small confident smile. He was a ST1EL series, he was not designed for failing at anything. In the morning when Dean was better rested Cas would show Dean just how quickly and proficiently he could execute his newly acquired skills. 

Cas plugged himself in and drifted off into his dream-like visualisations, full of pre-constructions of all that he could accomplish unto Dean's body.

He was going to be the android Dean deserved.


	4. Divine Deviancy - 2

Were humans all this defective of hearing or is it just Gavin Reed? Arkninel forewarned of his coming to Gavin in magnificent angelic song and all the man did was clutch his ears and bleed through the nose. The three dimensional plane was useless for musical expression, his war requiem was completely wasted and seemed to have a tendency to shatter glass. Obtaining a vessel had been a tedious process but seeing Gavin through material eyes was something of a revelation, even for an angel of the lord. When he had pieced Gavin's body together molecule by molecule the assembled whole had been just a pile of beautifully carved flesh and bones. It was Gavin's soul that glittered and sparkled in his new body the way light refracted through crystal. Arkninel had been dazzled a little. He was designed for war and wraith, his interactions with humans over the millennia had been heavy on smiting and light on social interaction. 

Still, the knife in the heart was, bluntly speaking, unfriendly. Even for Gavin. 

In the gas station, the angel thought Gavin was already looking the worse for wear having dug himself out of his own grave. There was dirt on his perfectly shaped hands, earth stuck beneath the nails. Scratches over his face where he struggled through the tree roots. Bruising on his knuckles as he punched the knife home. Weariness and exhaustion permeated his frame and he wore Arkninel's exquisite creation of a body like a scruffy old leather jacket - barely maintaining it on rations, water and some sugary congealed cold milk of questionable nutritional value. It was enough to make an angel weep with frustration. And perhaps Arkninel was confounded beyond reason because he had intended to reached out to take the human by the throat and convey some lofty threat to ensure his compliance but instead his own grace had sprung from his fingertip and soaked into Gavin like a stream heading for the ocean. He had healed Gavin Reed, even cleaned his clothing, peeled the weariness from his skin. Then he withdrew, momentarily unsure what his next move would be. The mission was his primary objective of course but interacting with Gavin made Arkninel do strange unexpected things. So he flew away. Inexplicably confused and angry. 

_It's just empathy_ 

Arkninel was surprised to hear input from Connor, the owner of the vessel he had taken. A pious young priest who had only six months ago taken up the post at Lawrence county church. Connor had the right physique and was a descendent whose body was compatible with Arkninel's grace to serve for a vessel. He had been compliant too, as soon as Arkninel revealed himself to Conner the young man had bequeathed his body to the angel. Once he was inside the vessel, the soul of the human had lain dormant, mostly. Somehow Arkninel's turmoil regarding Gavin drew Connor's interest. Arkninel tried to ignore the inner commentary. 

He floundered with his own confusion. It was weakness, it showed pride, to treasure his own handiwork so much that he had to scrub out all the flaws, fix the wear and tear, the moment he saw Gavin. It had been an indulgence and unnecessary. 

_It was kindess. I'm sure he appreciated it._

Arkninel ignored Connor who had too much faith in humans and angels alike. 

_Faith, not blindness. Can you tell the difference?_

Arkninel was not omnipotent, certainly, but he was a divine being. Being questioned by the man he wore as some sort of convenient finery was beyond the pale. He ought not to listen to the stirring soul. Connor had been unquestionably strong willed and even in a vessel state continued to make demands of his angelic tenant. 

_You promised I would be able to see him._

Arkninel extended his grace, quietening down the human soul nestled against his own grace with reassurances. He had never been an angel to break his word. He told Connor that he would make good on their agreement and so the young priest rested. Finally left to his own devices, Arkninel brooded. Whatever motivated him to help Gavin so pointlessly was for him to dwell on and him alone. 

Not a few minutes later, he flew back to Lawrence, Texas. He stayed outside the barn containing Gavin Reed all night, keeping watch. Gavin was an important asset and soon his return to the land of the living would be known to every demon out there. There would be chaos and conflict and Arkninel was going to triumph over both, Arkninel thrived on a challenge. 

* * * 

Gavin strode up to the bar, ducking the punch thrown his way by the brown haired woman behind the counter. The blue haired waitress threw a glass of sanctified water in his face, just as her partner sliced a silver blade across the back of his hand. When they were done testing him for demon, werewolf, vampire and who knows what else, who cares what else, Traci tucked an azure lock behind her ear and hugged him. Trixi plonked a jug of beer under his nose and cursed. 

"Fucking Gavin Reed, even the devil wouldn't have ya would he?" 

The beer was dark and icy and dry. The good stuff off the tap. So they must have missed him. 

"Cried me a river I hope," Gavin winked, licking foam off his top lip. 

"Karaoke nights haven't been the same," Traci nodded. "People don't clear off so quickly." 

"And there's a pile of junk in my cellar, collecting dust," Trixi finished. "Can't believe you left me that rubbish, consider your tab not settled." 

Gavin grinned broadly. "I knew you'd keep her safe." 

"I was gonna throw her out on the kerb sooner rather than later, just never found the time," Trixi mumbled as she sliced up limes. "Go clear it out will ya?" 

He didn't need any more queues than that. Swiftly, Gavin got off his barstool and slipped out the backdoor. The parking lot behind the bar was mostly vacant, Gemini Gardens drew a mostly messy wayward crowd since it was situated by the highway and far out of town. The bar and diner was surrounded by barren fields and a big empty parking lot. He walked around the perimeter of the building finding the door to the cellar unlocked for him. The front room upon first entry was full of barrels and boxes, a decent sized washroom to the side with a shower. Behind a shelf stacked high with pickles and condiments though there was a false wall. Gavin applied pressure to the right part of it and a whole wall of cleaning supplies slid away to reveal a hidden door. This one was made of solid iron and Gavin struggled with the turn wheel lock till it finally opened. The bolt hole behind the door was small. Just a cramped little room with a skylight. A small pallet bed nestled in one corner of the room. A monstrous shape loomed on the other side of the bed, covered in a tarp. The walls were covered in sigils and the tiny window letting in the moonlight was locked shut, a thick line of salt reassuringly piled along the ledge. Gavin collapsed onto the small bedroll. Not exactly luxury but this was already a huge improvement on the barn. Later he would go out and make use of the hot shower, then he'd practically be in heaven. When Traci and Trixi closed up after lunch they would probably come talk to him. For now, Gavin was safe. He looked at the sigils on the walls, the demon trap painted over the ceiling, the wall of mounted weapons until the lines and shapes got blurry. He fell asleep quickly, waiting for the sun to go down.

* * * 

Arkninel withdrew to the back corners of Connor's human mind reluctantly. This was human business that he did not understand. 

The man standing in front of him seemed like no one particularly remarkable. He had a handsome but weathered face, a gruff voice and a expression of fear and loathing mixed in with something else difficult for the angel to identify. For reasons Arkninel could not understand, Connor thought this human, above all others, was important. 

"I have an important mission to attend to," Connor said in the gentlest voice. "I thought I'd come and check on you to make sure you're okay before I go. Do you have everything you need, Hank?" 

Hank gave a non-committal shrug. "I don't need anything. There's this thing called the internet, I can order whatever I want and most places deliver." 

Connor nodded encouragingly. "I'm glad you are making yourself comfortable here. I hope the uh clothing I have provided is sufficient?" 

"Doesn't feel right dressing up as a holy man when I'm not," Hank tugged at the collar at his throat. 

"I understand your reservation but since you came here and killed the demon that possessed the senior priest, I have had to tell some lies and falsify some documents to allow you to take his place. If I had not seen the demon speak through him, act through him, I would not have believed in demons and hunters. You would be prosecuted as a common murderer which I know you are not. You are a good man Hank and you are retired from hunting. I would like you to have this sanctified ground as a safe place. As your home, if you would take it." 

Hand clasped his hand to Connor's shoulder, smacking it somewhat ineffectually, his jaw tightening. Connor smiled softly at him, straightening his back to carry the weight of his hand. 

"I'll keep the grass done while you're on your fool's quest." Hank said grudgingly, pulling his trench coat from the hook on the wall. "And wear a jacket or something, least this is waterproof. I know the angel keeps you feeling warm, but fuck it would make me feel better when I look at you." 

"I was stabbed in the chest a few hours ago," Connor said, looking down at his torso. "Even my clothing is mended, good as new." 

Hank cursed profusely. Connor stuck his arms in one after the other and Hank fussed until the trench coat was tugged on. They spun around each other awkwardly in a sort of not-hug, Connor's hair getting ruffled where he pressed his head against Hank's shoulder. 

"I have told the church administrators that I am going on pilgrimage," Connor said after the quick embrace, tilting his head to look Hank in the eyes. "But I would not deceive you. You know the angel Arkninel spoke to me and asked for my assistance in guiding the righteous man. I have agreed to help him." 

Arkninel took that to be his queue to come through, he let his own grace illuminate Connor's eyes with bright light. When the grace was withdrawn and dimmed again, Hank's expression was stoney, his eyes frosty blue. 

"I don't trust the angels," Hank said flatly, pulling his hand away from Connor's shoulder. "They never used to get involved in human affairs, at least not since biblical times. This smells rotten. How come hunters have never even heard of them one minute and the next the buggers are flying everywhere. And he's taken you. You're no meat suit, no robot puppet. Connor, you shouldn't have let him in." 

"I sense he needs more than my body, the angel, he needs my guidance too," Connor's voice gained a mischievous edge. "He's a bit of an arrogant doofus and very dangerous, but he's a little cracked. I think he's special, even for an angel." 

"Maybe some humans are more special than angels, even the ones who tell you they're the shit. Don't trust them, never will," Hank shook his head, digging around his bedside table and pulling out a large leather bound book. "So I found this for you, thought it was just mythology when I came across it years ago, pretty much kept it for the interesting pictures. But now I think this is lore, angel lore. Read it, learn it, understand what's riding your ass." 

"Thank you," Connor said, reaching for the book. Their fingers touched and turned into a sort of loose handshake. 

Arkninel fluffed his feathers, eager to go back to Gavin, he had left the man alone for too long. He thought Gavin might be safe in the drinking establishment known as The Gemini but he really should be on guard rather than allowing his vessel to call the shots. Connor gave Hank a wry smile. 

"Gotta go," he said and Hank frowned when Connor and Arkninel disappeared together. 

* * * 

When Gavin snapped awake there was urgent pressure on his bladder and even more urgent spine tingling instinct telling him to fight or flight. He stared wide eyed at the figure sitting at the foot of his bed, his back to Gavin. The angel was wearing a trench coat, a beige water proof looking thing, and his hair was a little mussed up. He looked different for a minute as he read the leather bound volume clutched in his hands, but when he turned around to regard Gavin his eyes were icy grey. 

"Would you like to know what heaven has planned for you?" Arkninel asked Gavin, head lowered, eyes glowing. 

"Arkninel's a real mouthful," Gavin sat up from his bed, bending his legs and bringing his knees up to rest his chin on them. "I gotta call you something else." 

"I was a Seraphim in charge of a garrison of nine hundred angels," Arkninel glowered. "I do not require a ... nickname." 

"Righteous killjoy in charge of 900 angels," Gavin smirked. "Yeah, that works, RK900. RK for short." 

RK, as he was now known, growled. 

"Careful RK, last time someone looked at me like that, I got laid." 

The angel stood up from the bed abruptly. Pacing towards the small window. He turned back to look at Gavin, his face angular and illuminated by the moonlight. 

"Was that a flirtation?" 

"Guy shows up in my bedroom, sits on my bed, probably watched me sleep. YA novels tell me you're into me. Or you know, you're a creep and I really shouldn't let you take me to the prom." 

"I don't..." RK sounded flustered. "I don't understand all these references. Even my vessel is confused."

"I'm saying, you want me for something, I don't know if I should let you have your way with me. What if your intentions are dishonourable?" 

"My only intention is to save humanity. To bring an end to this state of constant war. The fight between darkness and light is escalating. We cannot win without your full participation. You were born special, Gavin Reed. You are the one who would save the world." 

Gavin's bitter laugh echoed off the sigil covered walls. 

"Trying that on again are you?" Gavin gasped for a deep inhale of oxygen. "Fool me once blah blah blah. Lilith already did that, said I was the righteous man and if I gave her my soul Lucifer would not rise. I went to hell and I stayed there for 40 hellish years. That bought the world 4 months of not ending. I'm out." 

RK grabbed Gavin's wrist as he reached for the door. Gavin gave him a stiff kick in the groin for his trouble. The angel blinked but did not otherwise react. 

"Let go, or I'll yell and you'll have two very angry women shooting all kinds of bullets at you. Might not kill you but sure will tear up your vessel a fair bit huh? Yeah, Chris the gas station guy had a smart phone and you can find out all sorts of things on the internet. Like how angels possess humans just like demons can. But you gotta get consent. Old Testament and all that. So who's the poor fucker you're riding around in? He looks like a nice guy, was he a priest? That would've been preaching to the choir for you wouldn't it? Well this human ain't as gullible. And you're gonna have to be a whole lotta more persuasive if you wanna ride my ass." 

"I ..." RK licked his lips in a rather human gesture of nervousness. "I do not wish to ride your mule ... or to have sex with your posterior... or otherwise use you as transportation."

Gavin snorted loudly, slapping his thigh. 

"I do not need to personally use you as a vessel," RK repeated. "You are the true vessel of Michael the Archangel. The only one powerful enough to defeat Lucifer. Lilith lied to you, she took your soul so that your body could be destroyed. So that you could not consent to be Michael's vessel. You are the sword of Michael. You will end the apocalypse once and for all."

Gavin stared at the angel, his brows furrowed. "You're a ... matchmaker?" 

"I am your protector, your general, your garrison leader," RK drew himself to his full height, his face aglow with angelic light. 

"You're a bit of a looker, I'll give you that," Gavin said nonplussed. "Quit the light show will ya RK? Tell you what, I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt. Let you ride along with me for a little bit. And we play it by ear. Maybe I grow to not find you an arrogant ass. Maybe then I'll consider meeting this Michael." 

"You will find my company exalted."

"Get your exalted ass over here and show me how good you are with your hands," Gavin pointed at the tarp, pulling away the covering to reveal a rusting black motorbike. The vintage paint work and Triumph logo still glossy under the layer of dust.

RK's palm glowed as he reached for the bike. 

"Uh uh!" Gavin slapped his hand away unceremoniously. "No angelic voodoo, this is a work of art and she has a temper. You gotta fix her the old fashioned away. Spanners and engine oil grease. We can get started in the morning. Go um pray over your bible or something." 

RK looked down at the book laying at the foot of the bed. "I wasn't praying. Just reading." 

"Yeah okay, there's a stash of magazines under the mattress if you wanna kill some time. Guys and gals, I don't discriminate. Have fun." 

"Where are you going?" 

"To grab a shower, wanna get in with me and soap my back? Make sure I'm real clean and protected?" 

RK's cheeks darkened. "I can sense any danger approaching in a ten mile radius. That would be ... unnecessary." 

"Shame," Gavin winked maliciously from the door. "I like having my back scratched. Guess I'll scratch my own itch in the shower then." 

RK merely stared, his hands tightening into fists. 

"Your loss buddy," Gavin stepped out of the room. 

He pressed his back against the iron door once it had swung shut, tilting his chin up to exhale. What the actual fuck was an angel doing tailing his ass. What was that bullshit about an archangel wanting him for a meat suit. How the fuck was he ever going to get away from an obsessed soldier with wings. How much more fucked can he be? 

Unfathomably deeply was the answer. At least the shower was hot and the water pressure was good. And that was as close as Gavin was ever gonna get to paradise. No matter what the fucking angel sitting on his bed wanted to promise. There was only one man that Gavin knew who had enough knowledge on lore to get rid of an angel. He was gonna have to go find Hank Anderson.


	5. Strict Machine - 3

The oven was in love with Dean and resentful of Cas' presence in Dean's home, of that Cas was certain. Though its programming was no more sophisticated than a glorified computer chip, the cheaply made appliance was giving Cas no end of trouble. Fighting his integration requests at every step, daring to ask for a direct USB portal hookup when it arbitrarily decided Cas' software was too outdated. Cas was appalled, all he needed to do was heat up frozen cherry pie for Dean's dinner. He ended up prying the door open with a judicious application of scary laser infused stink eye and some very specific threats for which components of the oven he was going to melt first with said laser beams. 

With the kitchen appliances brought to heel, the rest of Dean's appliances fell into line quickly. The washer and dryer automatically opened up as soon as Castiel approached with the basket of Dean's laundry. The iron turning itself on compliantly. Cas consulted his internal countdown, Dean had been at the station all day and was due to return home within minutes. Interfacing with the wi-fi network, Cas snuck into the Lawrence County traffic cam feed and picked up the Impala at a set of traffic lights seven and a half blocks away. He wasn't supposed to access any official government data streams unless authorised but he had the backdoor protocols in his software arsenal since being able to hack into any data feed was integral to military recognisance.

Dean came tumbling through the door, his mouth agape and his eyes darting every which way, just as Castiel lit the last tapered candle on the dining table. 

“How was your day, Dean?” Cas peeled Dean’s leather jacket off his shoulders, hanging it up neatly on the hook by the door. 

“There’s gotta be like a hundred candles in here.” Dean looked around at the tea lights. “Are we having electrical problems? I can call Aaron...” 

“The apartment utilities are at optimal functionality,” Cas said proudly, the implicit ‘they would not dare to think to do otherwise’ underlining his confident smile. 

“Explains the three user error alert emails I got from the oven,” Dean laughed softly. “Take it easy on her, her line was made obsolete by the manufacturer, she’s one of a kind now.” 

Cas shot the oven a betrayed look but led Dean by the hand to the dinner table. There was a lush bowl of salad leaves sitting in the midst of the porcelain, candles, field flowers and origami-ed napkins. 

“You didn’t need to go to the trouble,” Dean said, blushing as Cas pulled out a chair for him. “I was just gonna order a pizza.” 

“Aaron allowed me to go through your ordering preferences,” Cas gestured towards the glittering bowl of leaves and fronds. “My culinary protocols only extend as far as field ration selection, but even I am shocked by the lack of nutritional balance in your diet.” 

Dean picked at the mound of salad scooped onto his plate contritely. 

“I foraged those,” Cas said as Dean chewed on his first mouthful. “Dandelions are very good this time of year.” 

Dean grimaced but kept eating, his lips moistening with drool as he ingested the nettle leaves. 

“If I eat my greens, you gonna give me some of that pie?” Dean asked hopefully. “I could smell it from the hallway.” 

Cas grinned mysteriously just as the doorbell sounded. Dean was surprised to see Aaron, the android who managed the entire apartment complex, walk in through the front door. He was holding a brown paper bag with a familiar golden circle logo. 

“Halo Burgers!” Dean ran for the bag, taking it out of Aaron’s unresisting clutches with nettle-induced excitement. “Mustard pickles and cheese, Cas I gotta marry you or something.” 

Aaron shuffled on his feet, smiling at Cas and giving him a small wave. He was a little less shy with Dean. “Hey Dean, Cas asked if I could order these for you and I thought I’d bring it up myself, and come and check out the apartment is all okay and that you guys are getting on okay. Not everyday I have to fill out forms for nuclear clearance when someone brings home a friend from work.” 

“Yeah, everything’s fine, and Cas has been keeping himself busy all day. Jack says you came and checked up on him a couple of times during the day?” 

“I thought the fire safety inspection was for the whole building,” Cas looked at Aaron with some surprise. 

Aaron blinked rapidly and sidled up to Dean, nudging him in the ribs with an elbow. “Dude.” 

“I suppose there was no need for a full body scan for incendiary materials either?” Cas asked Aaron with a fierce look. 

“That I really had to do,” Aaron raised his hands up in the air at Cas’ fire-ry look. 

“You said I was ‘smoking hot’,” Cas glared at Aaron. “I thought you meant factually.” 

“I didn’t know how good your aural detection is, I was talking to myself,” Aaron trembled a little. “Not every day some guy built like a tank walks in with antique biomech and wings and a face like a Greek statue, it’s hard to cope with.” 

Dean walked between the two androids, Cas indignant and Aaron looking like he might die of embarrassment. He placed a hand on Cas’ shoulder and another on Aaron’s. 

“Cas, no smiting,” he said in a firm tone, then turned to Aaron. “Cas is my guest and by the laws of apartment buildings or whatever he’s your guest. No hitting on tenants. You know the rules. I don’t care how much of an android masterpiece he is, he’s got a lot piled up on his plate since reactivation. He doesn’t have time for android on android romance just now. He could do with another friend though.” 

Aaron looked at Dean and then at Cas and bowed his head in defeat. “Friend zoned?” 

Cas folded his arms, pacing away. 

“I’ll see myself out then,” Aaron looked at Cas’ profile longingly, swallowed and turned for the door. “Uh, Cas you got flame dampeners on you? Don’t let any of the candles cause a hazard okay?” 

Cas gave Aaron a grumpy nod and shut the door. 

Dean sat down to savour his burger. “Hey man, you didn’t order one for yourself.” 

“I don’t need to eat,” Cas said tersely, sitting opposite Dean, his hands on his knees. 

There was definitely a chill in the atmosphere. 

“Okay,” Dean took a bite and then said thoughtfully. “Thanks Cas. For dinner and the the tidying and everything. It’s nice coming home to all this. I mean its not your job to do any of those things but I appreciate that you did. Tomorrow, I’ll cook and tidy.” 

Cas stared at the flickering candles, his eyes unreadable.

Dean finished up his burger and dutifully cleared his plate of the remaining salad. 

Cas stood up and blew out a candle. He misjudged the air pressure and the flame flickered high for a moment, startling Dean. 

“Sorry,” Cas said, squishing the belligerent flame between his thumb and forefinger. 

“Okay, what’s up?” Dean laid his hands out on the table, palms up. 

“You said to Aaron that I don’t have time for romance,” Cas said gravely. “You said I needed another friend. Implying that you are my friend. Then Aaron said that he was ‘friend zoned’. I did not understand that reference but while you were speaking with him, I looked it up on the public data stream. It means to be allocated a platonic role that is unlikely to eventuate into sexual companionship. I can only deduce that you have ‘friend zoned’ me.” 

Dean was speechless, Cas was standing up now, bearing down on him, the glittering candles reflecting orange light into his crystal blue eyes. 

“I am here for one purpose only, your sexual gratification. That’s what the state understands, that’s what my bail terms entail.”

“All the more reason I can’t,” Dean grabbed a hold of Cas’ hand, the palms already glowing as Cas glitched with emotions. “I can’t and I won’t take advantage of a terribly unjust situation. I’ve been working on it with Jack and those Jericho folks all day. They say tomorrow you can go to the station. You can start working on cases with me. You’re not a sex machine and I wanna be your friend.” 

Cas’ stared at Dean’s hand over his. 

“It is disconcerting Dean,” he said softly. “Once you integrate a protocol, your programming drives you to fulfil it. I am full of confidence that I would bring you complete satisfaction. I need to make you feel good.” 

“You can’t, just, delete it?” Dean asked gently. 

Cas shook his head. “I dislike deleting protocols. They make up who I am, it would be like erasing a part of myself, however new it may be.” 

Dean smiled, a little tentative, a little sweet. “Yeah, well, I’m a sexual human being and I wouldn’t want to lose all that either.” 

“I was not particularly interested but you arouse my interests,” Cas said in a low rumbly voice. 

Dean’s eyes widened, then he looked away quickly. 

“I do believe I am experiencing curiosity,” Cas lifted Dean’s chin with his forefinger. “Will you help me explore?”

Dean licked his lips, his eyebrows raised. “I ... Cas ... I could ... come ‘ere.” 

Dean was out of the chair and walking towards his bedroom, Cas had stayed out of there all day, respecting Dean’s personal space. Now that he was invited in, he took in the small but comfortable space. The room was a little untidy with a half made bed and a stray flannel shirt on the ground. The bed took up most of the space, it had a wide and generously proportioned headboard as well as a comfortable looking pile of pillows. The bedside had a lamp on it, Dean pulled open the top draw and with a reddened face indicated Cas should look over its contents. 

“That’s everything I have and you know the wi-fi password so help yourself,” Dean undid the top button of his uniform shirt. “I gotta wash up and uh this bed is bigger so if you need to you can use it till you ugh finish. I gotta go wash up, skipped the shower at the station, came home in uniform, didn’t want to keep you waiting. So I better go do that now. The shower.” 

Cas watched Dean disappear out of the bedroom, ignoring the shower in his ensuite for the one down the hallway. He looked down at the box of adult toys Dean had shown him. There were different sizes and shapes and textures and colours. A variety of motions and settings. Cas looked at them carefully, taking each one out and weighing it in his hand. He licked some of the more enticing looking ones, analysing the trace residuals on the silicon shafts until his social protocols started conflicting with his sexual protocols. Big flashing warnings that he had detected Dean’s DNA made him pause but then the sexual protocols did something completely unexpected and that’s how Dean came in to find Cas alternating between dipping two pieces in his mouth. 

“Shit, I thought you’d be done!” Dean apologised, banging his knee into the bed frame. 

Cas took the implements out of his mouth and gave a Dean a wave. “I was just comparing these two, do you have a favourite?” 

Dean banged a second knee into the bed frame, hissing as he tumbled into the mattress. 

“I don’t put them in my mouth all that often,” Dean moaned, rubbing his sore knees. 

“Are they similar to what you have?” Cas rotated one in the palm of his hand, spinning it like one of those fancy blades Dean saw him use during combat. 

“Mine’s more ... fleshy,” Dean cleared his throat. “

“This one is very well balanced, congratulations on your discerning taste in phalluses,” Cas said seriously. “I admire your sense of aesthetic.” 

“Thanks ....” Dean chuckled. “No one’s ever complimented me on my taste in dicks before.” 

“I wonder,” Cas held out the one he selected in front of his groin. He was still fully dressed, Dean looked at the purple glittery member flopping in front of Cas’ fly and couldn’t help but smirk. 

“Pretty,” Dean said. 

“Hmm,” Cas looked at Dean thoughtfully. “I think I would prefer one which blends more seamlessly with my skin tone.” 

“What?”

“I am considering a hardware upgrade.”

“Upgrade?” Dean cursed. “Cas you’re perfect.” 

“It’s a universal socket, I can have whatever shape or size I want,” Cas said. “Switching between models takes a fraction of a second. Theoretically, I could rotate between say four or five designs with a partner until he informs which one he wishes to achieve climax on.” 

Dean’s silence was deafening. 

After a few seconds Dean stood up and ambled to the door. “I left something in the bathroom. I’ll be a while. You uh keep looking.” 

He found Dean passed out on the couch, draped in a bathrobe, a couple of hours later. Dean murmured in his sleep when Cas lifted him up and carried him to bed. Cas ensured Dean found a comfortable sleeping position. Dean’s bathrobe was damp so Cas carefully peeled that away. Then he pulled the blankets up around Dean, smothering him in warmth. Though his temperature sensors told him the atmospheric conditions were optimal for sleep, he laid down beside Dean and allowed his internal reactor to emit gentle warmth. Dean sleepily clambered towards him, rolling until his back was nestled into the warmth of Cas’ chest. Though there had been no direct sexual gratification, Cas nonetheless felt his protocols quieten down in contentment as he held Dean. 

In the morning, neither of them made mention of the fact that they’d slept together in the same bed. Cas made coffee while Dean brushed his teeth. They dressed for work together. Sat in the Impala together. Arrived at Dean’s desk and sat down in front of the monitor together. Cas stood perusing through hardcopy files while Dean took notes from his computer monitor. They began paperwork on the investigation of a few cases. Cas started mining the databases for more information on NAOMI’s weapons caches. It was all administrative and engaging desk work. Dean had saved any interviews for later, allowing Cas the time to orientate himself around the office and get to meet a few people. Cas was in the office kitchenette recharging himself and making a cup of coffee for Dean when the delivery came in. A huge box marked with a three headed snake logo. 

Dean opened it with the other mail. There was a loud yelp and by the time Cas untangled himself from the three or so adapters he had to use to connect to the charger compatibly, Dean was hiding his face in his hands. A couple of the other police officers were standing around their desk with wide grins on their faces. One officer, Gabriel, was grabbing objects out of the box and throwing them up in the air, attempting to juggle with them. 

Cas stormed up to them, seizing the items from unwanted hands and placing them back inside the box. 

“Please do not touch my personal parts,” Cas said primly, turning to Dean with a softer tone. “Don’t worry I’ll sanitise everything again.” 

Charlie, another officer who had been watching the spectacle, began shooing everyone away. 

“I didn’t want them sent to the apartment, I don’t want Aaron scanning them and heaven forbid getting the idea that he should try them on.” 

Dean nodded in agreement. 

“Sorry, I didn’t tell you not to open them.” 

“I’m sorry, I should have asked. I, just, the box had my name on it.” 

“I’m not on the system as an employee, I had to use your name for delivery,” Cas explained. 

“I hated seeing other people grab them,” Dean muttered. “They’re yours.” 

Cas smiled, passing the coffee cup to Dean and winking conspiratorially. “You approve of my selections?” 

Dean gulped the coffee fast. 

“I, uh, I like them, yeah,” Dean stuttered after draining the hot liquid. 

“Would you like to see me try them on?” Cas asked. Dean almost fell out of his office chair. 

“Dean! Dean! What the fuck!” Sam was yelling on the other side of the bullpen. “No, Jack, don’t look!” 

Gabriel gave Dean and Cas a little shrug. 

“Who would put such a spare part on Sam Winchester’s chair?” He said, eyebrows dancing salaciously. 

“I sat on it!” Sam cried out. 

“Put it in the bin! Fuck!” Dean screamed back, turning to hiss to Cas. “Was that one expensive?” 

“I do not want that one back,” Cas made a face. 

“Is that even supposed to be realistic?” Sam could be heard complaining as he plonked the stolen toy into the garbage. 

Dean made a good show of ignoring the comedy and focusing on his work. Half an hour later he whispered to Cas. 

“If you wanna show me, sure, I can uh tell you if they look right,” Dean said with crimson cheeks. 

Cas spent the rest of the day constantly checking his internal clock.


	6. Divine Deviancy - 3.

RK was there when Gavin got back from his shower, back turned demurely as Gavin got his shit together for dinner. He followed Gavin back into the bar, sitting down in front of him in the dining booth, prim and proper like a nice girl taken on a cheap date, back ramrod straight and knees primly closed. Looking like the kind of person who was way out of Gavin’s league. Gavin ordered for himself and ate the meal in silence, and when he looked up, RK was still there, gazing at him with a nonplussed expression. 

“Fuck,” Gavin swore and gulped down half his beer. “You gonna eat something to look even vaguely non-threatening? Ruining my appetite the way you’re staring at me. People are gonna think you wanna kill me or kiss me or something.” 

“Or something,” RK said, noncommittal. 

“Loosen up will ya?” Gavin muttered, pushing the oily pickle fries in RK’s direction. “Fucking eat something. Gonna give me an ulcer just looking at your sour face.” 

“I have been told, more than once, since possessing this vessel that I am very beautiful,” RK said with a demure little nod. 

“Fucking disagree.” 

RK stared at Gavin for a minute and then said “You’re lying. Why do humans lie about such a trivial thing as aesthetic pleasure?” 

“Poor fuck who let you wear his face, is he dead?” 

“No,” RK shrugged. “And I will not need this body for too long, the moment you are delivered to my superiors, I will relinquish this vessel.” 

“He’s doomed then isn’t he,” Gavin bit into his burger, masticating messily as melted cheese oozed onto his fingers, which he used to greasily gesture to his own body. “Cause no angel is getting inside of this.” 

Gavin was uneasy and awkward in RK’s presence, he couldn’t remember the last time he ate a meal with company. He did his best to ignore the angel, made a good show of drinking and eating. If the prick was going to hang around, he might as well get the full Gavin Reed experience. So Gavin jumped onto the microphone and was pretty much glued to it for the two whole hours of karaoke, ignoring the boos and tossed peanuts from the gang of bikies that were blowing through town. He picked two motorcycle enthusiasts of the burley and sullen variety to tease and aggravate on the dance floor, till one shoulder slammed him into the wall and the other stood with hands clasped behind his back and an interested smile. That one he let tail him to the parking lot and in the shadow of the trees he got on his knees, but then the fucker had to go dark eyes on him. Not the steamy desirous variety, the possessed by a demon kind. And of course he had friends waiting in the bushes and suddenly it was Gavin versus like six demons with one little blade in his hand. He took out two but the remaining four had him by each limb, lifting him into the air like some poor medieval bastard. They were saying random things about Lucifer and the rise of the king of hell. Gibberish like always and Gavin was beyond paying attention to prophecies and destiny and whatever apocalyptic propaganda they wanted to convince him of. If a pretty faced personal angel couldn’t get his interest up, these guys had no chance. 

And of course that was RK’s queue to show up, eyes blazing and a freaking sword in his hand, slashing and maiming his way through the demon throng. It took the twins and Gavin most of the night to bury the mess the angel made and what the prick did next was so weirdly inappropriate. The angel picked a thorny stem from an ailing bush and stuck it in the ground over the shallow grave then enlivened the little stick with a touch of grace. The branch grew into a lush bush, laden with buds that burst open at the first touch of sun, blood red and saucer sized. 

“Our first kill together,” RK said proudly. 

“Fucking lunatic,” Gavin turned on his heels. 

“Aww, how romantic,” Traci said with her hands on her hips. “Take the murderous angel and don’t darken our doors again anytime soon.” 

“Yeah, gotta give you guys a chance to miss me,” Gavin rolled his eyes waving at the angel gently sniffing the roses. “Get your stalk on feathers.”

So he ended up letting RK fix his motorcycle with angelic voodoo after all and the sound she made when she started made him almost cry. He’d never heard her purr so sweetly before and maybe RK was good for one thing at least. He was surprised when a warm weight draped over his back.

“What are you doing?” 

“Riding with you,” RK said. 

“This ain’t some cheap porno, leave some space for fuck’s sake.” 

RK shifted but the warmth still rolled off the angel even as RK kicked off the road, the wind chilling him through and through except where RK was draped over his back. The fucker could fly and he could probably see Gavin wherever he went, what with purportedly being the one responsible for bringing him back to life and all that. So what the hell was he doing clinging to Gavin’s back, head pressed over the nape of Gavin’s neck, lips ticklish at the ends of Gavin’s messed up hair. What the fuck is this? What the actual fuck? 

He rode till his legs were cramping up and his arms ached. They made good distance but Nevada was still a long way away. The gas station was closed and there was no choice but to hangout in weird scenic town. There were no motels but there was a bed and breakfast and somehow RK smiling got them an upgrade to the ‘couples suite’ and demon bikie’s credit card paid for the room and hot-tub. Gavin sat in the bubbling water, sipping the complimentary flute of champagne and for a moment thought maybe coming back to life was gonna be a good thing, that last until RK walked in, slowly peeling off his trench coat and making to lie down on the bed. 

“What are you doing, there’s a couch, it’s like real leather and shit and that’s where you park your heavenly ass,” Gavin called out from the balcony, speaking loudly over the sound of bubbles. 

RK ignored him, putting his shapely legs on the bed, shoes and all. He took control of the remote and channel surfed until he found something he wanted to watch. Gavin wasn’t going to back down, so he got out of the tub naked and dripping and strode, alpha as he could manage, to the other side of the bed. Climbing in and sprawling out, hair dampening the pillows much to RK’s disgust. The angel was watching animal planet and then some sports, he tuned into an adult channel next, narrowing his eyes as he saw a guy drop to his knees. He shuffled and sat up stiffly as the scene progressed, his mouth opening as he took in a sharp intake of oxygen. Didn’t realise he even needed to breathe, in the soft pink light RK’s profile looked more human. Soft skin and shapely skull, petal blush lips. 

“You were about to do that to him?” RK asked, his voice husky. 

Gavin shrugged eloquently. 

“Why?” 

To have the taste of salt and musk on his tongue. For the weight and girth. For the feeling like the whole world is being shoved down your throat and nothing mattered except what’s being shoved in your face, choking down your windpipe. For the clasp of hands on his shoulders, the violet roil of desire in his chest as the oxygen ran out. 

“Seems an intimate place to kiss,” RK remarked, turning up the volume on the porno. “And yet seemingly highly enjoyable. I would be gentler with the mouth, massage the jaw, stroke the throat.” 

Gavin looked down at RK’s ... what did he call it, a vessel? 

“That you or the vessel?” Gavin lifted an eyebrow as he glared down at RK’s lap. 

RK followed the line of Gavin’s gaze and the smile on his face was softer than usual. “I am feeling things I have not felt before. It is strange and somewhat overwhelming.” 

And Gavin almost reached out. Almost grabbed and bit and owned. A proper angel, with a sweet face and wicked eyes and bulging loins. Who was Gavin Reed to resist that. But then, Gavin was a suspicious bastard, and the dipped lashes and apple red cheeks were too good, too sweet. Didn’t RK want something from him? What if all this was part and parcel of the deal. Another coffin in the nail, so to speak, on Gavin’s loyalties. Joke’s on the angel, Gavin didn’t have loyalties. He had no soul to win over, no goodness to corrupt. Still he didn’t like being deceived. A fuck in the woods was at least honest, a fuck in the toilets even more so. A fuck with the angel that wanted his body for a tool would be something else all together. 

So Gavin got up, slinking his way to the couch and yelled “Turn it down for fuck’s sake.” Then he curled up, face to the leather cushioned back, and went to sleep. While RK marathoned more unrealistically loud oral sex. Just Gavin’s luck, turns out angels don’t need to sleep.


End file.
